I am looking for advice. My husband and I took our first cruise last May on Carnival Jubilee out of Galveston. We had a wonderful time and are planning to take our children on our next cruise, in June of '04. We have 4 children who will be: 11, 10, 6, and 3 years old. We know our older kids will have a blast - but what about our 3 year old? We are in Texas and want to cruise out of Galveston or New Orleans only. Does anyone know which ship out of these ports is the best for kids? Thanks!!

Royal Caribbean has a number of ships sailing out of New Orleans and Galveston. Their youth program is excellent as are their family friendly facilities.
The Grandeur of the Seas sails 7 day itineraries from New Orleans from Nov 15-April 24. There are two different itineraries, but both go to the Western Caribbean and central America.
The Rhapsody of the Seas sails year round from Galveston on seven day itineraries to the Western Caribbean/Mexico.
The Splendour of the Seas sails from Nov through April on a few various itineraries including Panama Canal, Mexico, Western Caribbean. Lenghts vary from 4,5,11 and 12 nights.
Hope this helps!
Smooth sailing,
Luisa Frey Gaynor
Family Cruise Editor

Just a little information for ya. A friend of mine had just come back from
cruising with her family, kids ages 4 & 10, and she went on & on about
how great their cruise was wiith Carnival Celebration. Because of their
wonderful experience, I have booked the same cruise leaving out of Galveston
in March 2004 with my two (2) sons.

Thanks for the info! We will most likely end up on the Celebration as well. We have heard good things about Camp Carnival, and they offer the shorter cruises which might be best considering our youngest will only be 3.......regardless of which ship we choose, we are really looking forward to it!

We took our 5 children on Carnival Jubilee out of Galveston this past February. ages 5 to 15 and they had a blast!! There werent very many children onboard so I would suggest taking them over springbreak or during summer months... Luckily our kids had each other to keep them occupied.. There were other children there, but not too many..